This blog attempts to cause people to begin thinking more deeply about the philosophy and ethics of food.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Veganism: the moral thing to do?

People fascinate me. How they think. How they make decisions. It all intrigues me.

So I read blogs, news articles, and books. Just watching what people say and wondering why they say it.

In the world of "Animal Rights, Veganism, etc." these things can get quite interesting.

I have a Facebook "Friend" that recently was defending veganism by saying, "It is an individual's choice, you can choose what you want, but for me, veganism is the only morally and ethically reasonable choice." That statement seems fine until you think about it.

If veganism is a moral choice then isn't there one answer that would be proper for everyone? Isn't morality about doing what is right in the eyes of God? How could eating meat be morally right for one person and wrong for the next in the eyes of God. Does He play favorites? If my killing and eating one of the beautiful animals He created is morally o.k. then why not for you? The great Philosopher and thinker C.S. Lewis described morality like this.... http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/morality.htm.

The basic problem is that if we get to chose our morality then we each are our own God. If we are all gods then there is no Singular God. How sad is that?

Ethics then is what we should do based on morality. If we cannot come up with a basic morality why even worry about ethics? If we get to choose our own morality we surely get to do whatever we want.

So, as I see it, veganism is not an individual moral ethical choice. When it is pushed forward by statements that link it to morality it now becomes a religious movement that needs to questioned. What is the god that is being worshiped by veganism?

I recently was told by Wayne Pacelle, head of HSUS (the nation's leading animal rights organization), that animal agriculture is a "noble profession". At the same time he stated that his organization was working to "fundementally change people's relationship to animals" and actively promotes veganism. In my humble opinion there is only one person who can "fundamentally change" man's relationship to animals. That would be the God that created both. The God of Christianity. Until He changes that relationship, man has a stewardship responsibility toward the animals. To claim that we can change that relationship ourselves is to lift ourselves up.

Now how does this idea of a noble profession work?

If animal agriculture is a noble profession why does it need to be funementally changed. If fundemental change is needed then someone has been seriously mistaken for a very long time. That doesn't sound like a "noble" situation. That sounds like someone saying you have been wrong and I intend to correct you because my morality trumps yours.

That doesn't sound like veganism being a moral choice we each make. That sounds like a new morality stomping on the old. If you want to promote veganism on the strength of your morals then you need to realise you are saying to everyone else that they are immoral. You are not saying they are "noble".

Here is a link to a blog that explains, "Why I am a vegan". http://knowthankyou.wordpress.com/why-im-vegan/ I would ask you to use your high school literature training as you read this article and ask yourself some questions. What is the author's view of non-vegan's? What is the author's view of economics? What is the author's view of people that think differently? What is the author's view of the world? You get the idea.

1 comment:

I just put it down to a doctrine of a demon telling me not to eat meat....sorry, can't grab the verse right now.I think there are only 10 chapters of the whole Bible that don't eat meat....and 3 of those are creation.Oops, I guess I'm saying my morality trumps the vegans!

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About Me

I raise pigs, corn and soybeans in S. Western Ohio. I have four children that represent the seventh generation on this farm. My hope is to communicate something of our life and thought to the reader and to foster discussion and thought.